


Lay a Lilly in Her Grave

by citrusella



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: (he's found a place to settle down even), (it's unclear whether Connie is in high school still or college here), (like as in full on post series), Animal Death, Fish, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Pets, Post-Episode: s06e20 The Future, i spit this out in like 30 minutes, minimal planning, minimal revision
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:27:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29347368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/citrusella/pseuds/citrusella
Summary: Steven comes home from work and greets his joy, Lillian, as he does every day. It's routine.Except that it's not. Not today.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran & Steven Universe
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20
Collections: lofi fanfics to practice social distancing to





	Lay a Lilly in Her Grave

**Author's Note:**

> I blame Discord fish conversation

Steven let himself into the house, a bounce in his step as he kicked his shoes off in the entry and stepped onto the slightly shag flooring of the house proper.

"Hey, Lillian, I'm home!" he called into the breakfast nook of his kitchen, a light lilt to his voice. "Bet you're hungry! I got you some fancy new—"

Lillian, usually so happy to see him, lay still on the bottom of the tank.

She did not swim to the glass and _blub blub blub_ at him in excitement.

She did not do anything.

"Lilly? Lil." His lips formed a thin line, but only because quivering would lead to crying, and he really did not want the first thing he did off a shift at work to be crying.

…Aw, who was he kidding? He was crying anyway.

* * *

"Connie?"

"Steven? Oh my—do you… are you okay? You sound… upset." Connie leaned her neck to the side to hold the phone to her ear with her shoulder, so she could continue typing her term paper.

"It's Lilly." He sniffed.

She stopped typing. "Um. Is she… Is she sick?" Connie was pretty sure she was not sick.

"No… she's… um… I came home from work and she was just… She was on the bottom of the tank, Connie." His voice broke, and she could hear him sob lightly on the other end.

"…Oh." Something about this felt like it was destined to happen. Steven had picked the smallest, most sickly fish in the most neglected tank in the shady pet store, figured out if it could be raised alone, and set to the work of nursing it to health. Lillian's recovery had been dramatic, miraculous… She had become his _baby_.

Nevertheless, that didn't mean she could never die.

"Do you need me to find Lion? Come over?"

"No. I just… I need you to convince me not to bring her back."

"Not to—what?"

"I could go… cry in the tank. Bring her back to life. Like Lars, y'know?"

She was silent on her end of the line. She stared at the pulsing cursor on her document.

"…Don't do it on _purpose_ , Steven. It'll feel empty."

"But—" He sighed. "No, you're right. I… but what do I do now?"

"Give her a nice memorial. Find a good final resting place for her. And talk to people?"

"But… I'm alone now, how do I—what do I—am I supposed to get another fish? I—"

Connie cocked an eyebrow. "…Are you ready to get another fish?"

He whimpered. "No."

"Then no."


End file.
